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Omaha Hold'em
In case you’re playing Texas Hold ‘em and you plan on moving on to higher levels, then Omaha Poker is definitely going to shake things up for you. The speed, risk, and depth of strategy are all upped to a whole new level. In this guide, I explain the entire ruleset of Omaha poker, including that all-important rule of using only two of the four hole cards, the differences between the two games when playing at tables, which starting hands should be played, the most frequent losing moves made by players, and—most importantly for Filipinos—the place where you can now play Omaha poker!
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How to Play Omaha Poker
There comes a point where all Texas Hold'em players reach after some time. You have gotten to learn how to play positions, how to calculate pot odds, how to read boards, but then, one day you sit down across the table from a guy playing four hole cards and everything changes. This game is Omaha, and once you have tried it, you cannot go back.
This is a guide for those poker enthusiasts who wish to know everything about playing Omaha: rules of the game, why it is important, and – for Filipinos – places where you can find and play a good Omaha game, either at the local casinos or online at any hour of the day.
What Is Omaha Poker?
The second most popular type of poker in the whole world after Texas Hold'em is Omaha Hold'em or Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO). In this type of game, you will be faced with the familiar structure of blinds, flop, turn, and river with one very significant change of rule.
You will start off with four hole cards instead of two; and you will have to use exactly two of them along with three community cards to form the best possible hand consisting of five cards.
5 of the Best Omaha Poker Sites Reviewed
If you want to play real money Omaha poker online, these sites are our top picks for PH players, offering something for players of all skill levels, from excellent bonuses and rewards, cash games at all stakes, Omaha MTTs, and more. Many players enjoy these alongside licensed local options.
CoinPoker
CoinPoker is one of the best Omaha poker sites for players of all skill levels. You’ll find Omaha, PLO5, and PLO6 on the site, with stakes starting at $0.01/$0.02 and going up to $5,000/$10,000, and even higher for private games.
The site has everything you need, including top bonuses like its excellent 150% deposit match up to $2,000 welcome bonus. Plus, you’ll find more than $7 million in weekly CoinRewards, which includes Omaha leaderboards, as well as Infused Splash Pots and Balance Boosters.
CoinPoker also accepts a range of crypto payments, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum, for deposits and withdrawals — convenient for PH players.
ACR Poker
If you’re all about Omaha tournaments, ACR Poker is where you want to play. You will get access to massive events like the $2M Venom PLO and the $50M Online Super Series. But it’s not just the giant tournaments that make ACR Poker stand out as one of the best Omaha poker sites for online tournaments.
You’ll find more than 30 PLO tournaments a day, including hyper, turbo, and PKO options, along with freerolls with $50 GTD. Sunday Specials feature PLO events with up to $30,000 in guarantees. There is also up to 60% rakeback available through the Elite Benefits program, along with cash rewards and other bonuses as you climb the ranks.
Stake.us (or Stake Poker options)
Stake.us is one of the best PLO poker sites for soft games if you want to play against fish without worrying about regs. Many are recreational players.
The site offers many Omaha cash tables and variants like PLO5 and PLO6, along with freerolls and MTTs. The guarantees aren’t the biggest, but the amateur player pool means you’ll have plenty of opportunities to cash in.
BCPoker
BCPoker is relatively new, and its bonuses and rewards don’t boast the big numbers you’ll find at other Omaha poker sites. But the reason it’s one of our favorites for bonuses is that they are easy to claim and ideally suited for beginners and casual players.
The 10% up to $200 doesn’t have a time limit, and the bonus amount unlocks in very small increments. An extra $130 is available by completing a simple set of Newcomer Challenges. And it’s one of the only sites offering a no-deposit bonus.
Omaha cash games start as low as $0.02/$0.05 and go all the way up to $200/$400, with similar action at both Omaha and PLO5 tables. And the VIP program gives you up to 50% rakeback as you climb the ranks.
Ignition Poker
We found that Ignition is another top PLO poker site, particularly for beginners. You’ll mostly find soft games at Ignition because most players are recreational.
The site has lots of Omaha cash tables and $2 million in weekly tournament guarantees. Its mobile play option lets you join up to 4 tables at once. Plus, you can grab a 150% bonus up to $1,500 when you make your first deposit.
If you want to play easy games with real fish, Ignition is the Omaha poker site to join.
The Rules, Step by Step
The Setup
A pack of 52 cards is used for the game. There are between 2 and 10 players involved in the game, together with a dealer button, a small blind, and a big blind, before the cards are dealt. This setup is consistent with the one used in Hold’em.
Pre-Flop
Four private cards are dealt to each player face-down. The player sitting to the left of the big blind makes the move to either raise, fold or call.
The Flop
Three common cards are put on the table facing up. This marks the beginning of the second round of betting, which starts from the active player sitting to the left of the dealer.
The Turn
A fourth community card is added. Another betting round follows.
The River
The fifth and final community card hits the board. The last betting round takes place, and if more than one player remains, hands are revealed.
Showdown
This is where amateurs always make mistakes. You need to use two cards from your hand and three cards from the board. No more and no less than that. Just because there are four hearts on the board and you have the ace of hearts in your hand doesn’t necessarily mean you have a flush. You have to have another heart in your hand as well for that.
PLO: The Standard Format
The game of Omaha that is played in most places is the Pot Limit Omaha (PLO). In this variant, the maximum betting size is equal to the size of the pot at any time. This is a way to get big pots without the messiness of playing all-in as seen in No-Limit.
No-Limit Omaha exists but is rare. Limit Omaha (fixed bet sizes each street) is also available on some platforms but plays very differently.
How Omaha Differs From Texas Hold'em
In case you are switching from Hold'em, you will be surprised by some differences between games:
Stronger hands win more often. As every player gets four hole cards, he/she can make six combinations using these two cards. Winning hand becomes much more strong – top two pairs become not enough often. Straights, flushes and full houses show up quite often, affecting decision about money spent for a pot.
Drawing hands have enormous value. You'll frequently be correct to call a big bet on the flop with the right combination of straight and flush draws. Equity runs much closer pre-flop than in Hold'em — even the weakest starting hands in PLO have 30–35% equity against the best.
Pre-flop edges are smaller. There is one of the strongest possible starting hand in PLO double suited A-K-Q-J. While it becomes 65/35 favorite versus any other possible hand, pocket aces in Hold'em become 85/15 favorite pre-flop. Therefore, it becomes more dangerous to stack off pre-flop in Omaha poker.
Position is even more important. Being the acting last allows receiving some important information whether the opponent made his/her draw or no. Quite many PLO pots become won by the player who had position, not having the best hand.
Blockers matter. Holding one card of a suit your opponent might be drawing to changes the dynamics of the hand significantly. If you hold the ace of spades and the board is three spades, your opponent cannot hold the nut flush — that's valuable information when deciding whether to call a river bet.
Starting Hands Worth Playing
Beginner PLO players end up playing too many hands, and one of the reasons behind this is the presence of four cards, which seem to be better than two. This isn’t true in most cases; however, since all the equity here is mostly imaginary.
The hands that should be played are those which are coordinated hands – i.e., cards that combine and work together on different draws. Hands that possess the following qualities are considered the best starting hands:
Examples of strong hands:
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A♠K♠A♥K♥ — double-suited, two pair potential, nut flush draws
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A♠K♠Q♠J♥ — rundown with a nut flush draw and multiple straight combinations
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J♠T♠9♥8♥ — middle rundown, double-suited, huge straight possibilities
Hands to be cautious with: pairs below tens without other connections, rainbow (four different suits) hands with gaps, and anything with four cards in the same suit — you can only use two of them, so a four-flush in hand is actually worse than a two-flush.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Overvaluing top pair. In Hold'em, top pair top kicker is often the best hand. In PLO, it's frequently the third or fourth best hand by the river. If you're putting in a lot of money with top pair on a connected board, someone likely has you drawing thin.
Not protecting your equity. Unlike Hold'em where flopping a set is often a slow-play situation, in PLO you want to build the pot on the flop when you're ahead, because your opponents have many more outs with four cards.
Forgetting the two-card rule at showdown. This happens to everyone at least once. Count to two before you declare your hand.
Without Nuts (or near-Nuts) in multi-way pot situations. There should be no shortage of patience in playing PLO. The key to success in this game lies in chasing nut draws, i.e. the absolute best flush draw and the absolute best straight draw.
